Junior gold and lithium explorer Aruma Resources has burst onto the lithium scene with a flurry of shallow, thick pegmatite drill intersections showing visible spodumene across a strike length of over 500 metres at its Mt Deans lithium project approximately 170 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie.
Pegmatites were intercepted in all eight holes drilled to date with one near-surface hit displaying a 25m thick vertical body from just 17m downhole of the coarse-grained intrusive rock that is widely considered a prospective host for lithium mineralisation.
Common lithium bearing minerals spodumene, lepidolite and petalite were all visually identified in drill cuttings with all samples now at the assay laboratory with results keenly awaited.
Aruma has completed 1,156m of drilling, rounding out the first phase of a planned 3,000m program at Mt Deans. The program is scheduled to be finished in April with results from the first exploration to be used to refine future drill targets.
The Mt Deans project is located in an area fast becoming known as a ‘lithium corridor’ with the neighbourhood hosting multiple significant lithium projects including those at Mt Marion, Bald Hill and Buldania.
The initial exploration was primarily designed to confirm pegmatite occurrences previously mapped over a 1km strike length that historically yielded high-grade surface rock chips grading up to 2.1 per cent lithium and 555.9 parts per million tantalum.
Four rock chip samples had earlier been taken from the Mt Deans project and analysed for lithium and tantalum mineralisation with all returning anomalous grades. The average grades across the samples came in at 1.4 per cent lithium and 275ppm tantalum.
The average grades encountered at Mt Deans fair well when compared against several other major lithium projects in Western Australia. The Liontown-owned Kathleen Valley deposit is considered world-class and also boasts a 1.4 per cent lithium grade however it only has an average tantalum grade of 130ppm in comparison. Buldania, another of Liontown’s major lithium projects, has a 1.0 per cent lithium grade with 44ppm tantalum. Additionally, the Pilbara Minerals owned Pilgangoora project hosts an average lithium content of 1.3 per cent with 120ppm tantalum.
The early geological signs are looking fortuitous for Aruma’s Mt Deans project especially when taking into account the enviable postcode it occupies and its well-established lithium mineralisation potential.
Whilst at this stage Aruma has only rock-chips under its belt, the presence of thick pegmatite intervals with visible spodumene in drill chips has likely turned a few heads the company’s way. Additionally, with major players including Mineral Resources and Liontown heading up world class projects in the neighbourhood, the market meerkats are likely to be keeping an eye on the next set of numbers coming from Aruma Resources.
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